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RENEWABLE ENERGY Ten of the world’s largest renewable energy projects

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The year ahead promises valuable new growth paths for the renewable energy industry as concern for climate change grows. With this in mind, here’s a look at 10 of the world’s largest renewable energy projects.

As the need and demand for clean, sustainable energy continues to increase and renewable technologies become more advanced, more renewable energy projects are being developed.

Rapid improvements in technology and falling costs of renewable energy resources have made renewables one of the most competitive energy sources. With new projects receiving more funding than ever before, renewable energy is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries.

Last was a record-breaking year for the sector as it remained resilient against widespread global disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Deloitte , wind and solar capacity installations remained at an all-time high, with capacity additions of 13.8 GW in the first eight months representing an increase of 28 % in comparison to the same period in 2020.

In 2022, renewable energy growth is expected to accelerate even further as concern for climate change and demand for cleaner energy sources from most market segments grow. As the need and demand for clean, sustainable energy continues to increase and renewable technologies become more advanced, more renewable energy projects are being developed. While every renewable energy project is just as important as the next when it comes to improving the world’s energy supply, it’s important to understand the sheer scale that some of these projects operate on to truly appreciate just how important renewable energy is for the future of our planet.

With this in mind, let’s look at some of the largest renewable energy projects across four different types of renewable energy sources: solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal . These are in no particular order and “larger” projects (i.e., other than those listed) may exist.

When first planning for the PV project in Talatan, Huanghe sought ways to deploy PV power stations in a way that would benefit both the natural ecosystem and the PV industry.

Largest solar renewable energy projects

Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, there was a surge in new solar farms as governments all around the world rushed to achieve their national clean energy targets. For a long time, the U.S. led the world in solar but today, countries such as India and China are dominating the space.

Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park, China

China is the world leader when it comes to solar capacity, so it is fitting that the country is also home to the world’s largest solar park. Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park, also known as the Golmud Solar Park, is a 2.3 GW solar project in the arid climate region of Qinghai Province.

Huanghe is state-owned by Huanghe Hydropower Development and the project is aiming to reach a maximum solar capacity of 16 GW over the next few years. So far, more than USD2.2 billion has been invested into the solar park which was officially connected to the grid in 2020.

See the impact of the largest photovoltaic power plant in China in this video:

Sweihan Photovoltaic Independent Power Project, UAE

The Sweihan Photovoltaic Independent Power Project is located in Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, and covers an area of 7.8 square kilometers. The solar plant was developed by a joint venture of Marubeni Corporation, Junko Solar, and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority with a total investment of USD870 million.

The project uses an innovative module layout design, high-efficiency monocrystalline solar modules, and advanced project maintenance to ensure that the cost of power generation remains low. Commercial operations at the plant began in April 2019 and the latest figures show that it supplies power to more than 195,000 homes in the region.

Enel Villanueva Photovoltaic Plant, Mexico

Enel Villanueva PV Plant is located in the Mexican state of Coahuila. The PV facility is made up of more than 2.5 million solar panels spread out across 2,400 hectares in the Mexican semi-arid region. The 828 MW plant became fully operational in September 2018 and has a maximum production capacity of more than 2,000 GWh per year.

Enel Group invested more than USD700 million into the construction of the plant and deployed a unique pilot program using digital technologies and automation for the plant’s construction. This included the use of GPS-controlled machines for moving earth, drones for 3D topography, and robots for panel installation.

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WEB CONFERENCE: THE FUTURE OF ENERGY

Renewable energies – chances & challenges for a clean future, largest wind renewable energy projects.

Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources. According to the 16 th Annual Global Wind Energy Council report, 93 GW of new capacity was added in 2020, representing a 53 % year-on-year increase.

Gansu Wind Farm, China

Gansu Wind Farm, also known as the Jiuquan Wind Power Base, is in the west of China’s Gansu province on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert. It has a planned capacity of 20 GW making it one of the world’s largest, if not the largest, wind farms.

The Gansu project is worth an estimated USD17.5 billion and comes as part of the Chinese government’s plans to invest USD360 billion into renewable energy sources. Phase one of the project was completed in 2010 with 3,500 turbines installed.

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When the construction of the farm is complete, it will include more than 7,000 wind turbines and, in theory, produce enough energy to power a small country. At the time of writing this article, the farm has just under 8,000 MW (8 GW) of installed capacity.

Alta Wind Energy Centre, United States

The Alta Wind Energy Centre, also known as the Mojave Wind Farm, is located in the Tehachapi Pass of the Tehachapi Mountains, in Kern County, California. With an installed capacity of 1,550 MW, it is the largest wind farm in the United States and there are plans to increase this capacity to 3,000 MW in the future.

The Mojave Wind Farm was originally developed by Terra-Gen Power and construction began in July 2010 and wrapped up in 2013. The project initially aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 5.2 million metric tonnes and generate power for 275,000 residences in California. Today, it supplies around 1,500 MW to Southern California Edison, the primary electricity supplier for most of Southern California.

Hornsea One, United Kingdom

Hornsea One is the world’s largest and most famous offshore wind farm located off the Yorkshire coast with a total capacity of 1.2 GW. It was the world’s first offshore wind farm to surpass 1 GW in installed capacity. The wind farm covers 407 square kilometers and is made up of 174 Siemens turbines with a capacity of 7 MW each.

Hornsea One officially became operational in early 2020 and produces enough energy to power more than 1 million UK homes. The project is owned 50-50 by both Ørsted and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and is part of an USD8.7 billion investment to transform the Humber region into a renewable energy hub.

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Stationary energy storage systems, largest hydroelectric renewable energy projects.

Hydropower is one of the oldest and most widely used renewable energy sources. China is the world’s largest producer of hydroelectricity and operates three of the world’s 10 biggest hydroelectric power plants.

Three Gorges, China

Three Gorges is a 22.5 GW hydroelectric power plant in Yichang, China. It’s the world’s largest hydropower station and is a conventional impoundment facility that exploits the water resources of the Yangtze River to produce electricity.

Construction of the USD29 billion Three Gorges facility began in 1993 and was completed almost 20 years later in 2012. As part of the project, a 181 meter tall and 2,335-meter long gravity dam was built. The plant itself consists of 32 turbine units that are each rated over 700 MW, and two 50 MW power generators. The annual output of the hydroelectric plant is estimated to be around 85 TWh.

Itaipu, Brazil/Paraguay

The 14 GW Itaipu hydroelectric plant is located on the Parana River at the border between Brazil and Paraguay. Construction of Itaipu began all the way back in 1972 and was completed in 1982 at a cost of USD19.6 billion. Power production at the facility began in 1984.

In 2018, the Itaipu facility supplied 15 % of Brazil’s and 90 % of Paraguay’s energy consumption. It consists of 20 generating units with a capacity of 700 MW each. It produced 103.1 million MWh in 2016, which at the time made it the biggest generating hydropower plant in the world.

Take a closer look at the Itaipu Binacional Hydroelectric Plant in this video:

Largest geothermal renewable energy projects

Geothermal activity has been chugging along in the background — or rather, below the surface — for centuries, and we’re only just now beginning to utilize it for energy production. While Iceland is famous for powering its entire country with geothermal energy, the largest geothermal project is located in the United States.

The Geysers Geothermal Complex, United States

Located around 120 kilometers north of San Francisco is Geysers Geothermal Complex, the world’s largest geothermal energy project. The complex is made up of 15 power plants that together have a combined installed capacity of 1,205 MW (1.2 GW).

The Geysers complex coves an area of 78 square kilometers and production from the geothermal field has been going on since the 1960s.

Watch now - The Geysers' power plant keeps California's electric grid green:

Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station, Mexico

Operating with an installed capacity of 720 MW, Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station is located in south Mexicali, Baja California. Like all geothermal fields in Mexico, it’s owned and operated by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Cerro Prieto features four plants that together are made up of 13 units. The first plant at the facility was commissioned in 1973 while the fourth plant was commissioned in 2000. The turbines at Cerro Prieto include four 110 MW condensing type, four 110 MW double-flash type, four 37.5 MW single-flash type, four 25 MW single-flash type, and one 30 MW single-flash type.

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Amazon is the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for the fourth year in a row

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An image of a farm from one of Amazon's renewable energy projects around the world.

Amazon invested in more than 100 new solar and wind energy projects in 2023, becoming the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for the fourth year in a row. Amazon’s investments include the company’s first brownfield project—which will repurpose a previously polluted Maryland coal mine site into a solar farm—as well as Amazon’s first renewable energy project in South Korea.

A photo of an employee mowing grass below solar panels at Amazon's Solar Farm Ohio–Yellowbud.

The company now has more than 500 wind and solar projects globally, and once operational, they are expected to generate more than 77,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean energy each year, or enough to power 7.2 million U.S. homes.

Since 2020, Amazon has purchased more renewable energy than any other company, according to BloombergNEF and publicly available sources. The projects are moving Amazon closer to having 100% of the electricity powering its operations be attributable to renewable energy sources by 2025 . The projects are already helping power Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers, Amazon fulfillment centers, physical stores, and corporate offices, while also providing new sources of clean power to local communities where the projects are located.

Amazon’s solar and wind farms have also helped generate more than $12 billion in estimated economic investment globally from 2014 through 2022, and supported 39,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in 2022 alone, according to a new economic model developed by Amazon.

“Amazon’s investments in solar and wind projects are helping power our operations, while also providing new sources of clean energy to the grid, spurring economic growth, and supporting jobs in the communities where our customers live and work,” said Adam Selipsky, CEO of AWS. “More than 90% of our operations were powered by renewables last year, but we’re not done. We’re focused on continuing to find innovative ways to bring new projects online, address grid constraints, and work with policymakers to mitigate the impacts of climate change, all of which is helping Amazon move closer to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2025.”

A large direct air capture array from CarbonCapture.

“Amazon’s renewable energy investments continue to bring new solar and wind projects to market at a rapid pace and cement the company as a global leader in this space,” said Kyle Harrison, head of sustainability research at BloombergNEF. “Despite supply chain challenges, infrastructure hurdles, and rising prices over the past year, Amazon’s continued renewable commitments demonstrate how a corporation can help accelerate society’s transition to a clean energy future.”

To date, Amazon has expanded its renewables portfolio into 27 countries and more than 20 U.S. states, with new projects in Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Virginia so far this year, as well as Canada, Greece, and South Korea. Here are a few of the exciting projects Amazon is working on.

Converting a coal mine site from brownfield to solar farm

Amazon recently announced its first renewable energy project built on a brownfield—land that has been abandoned due to industrial pollution. Amazon Solar Farm Maryland–CPV Backbone is being built on the site of the recently closed Arch Coal Mine in Garrett County, Maryland. The 120-year-old mining site was previously contaminated with more than 45 acres of coal refuse, which has since been reclaimed.

An image of a farm from one of Amazon's renewable energy projects around the world.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S., which is an emerging opportunity for solar energy projects. Brownfields—which can include abandoned factories, mines, or landfills—are often located near power lines and public roads, making it easier to connect a project to the grid and turn unused land into an economic opportunity for local communities.

The CPV Backbone project is expected to be the largest solar farm in Maryland once completed, according to publicly available data from the Energy Information Administration and PJM, and it will feature more than 300,000 solar panels. It’s also expected to employ more than 200 skilled workers during peak construction activities, provide millions of dollars in local tax revenue, and help avoid more than 133,000 tons of CO2 each year—the equivalent of taking more than 26,000 cars off the road, according to the developer Competitive Power Ventures (CPV).

Creating 1,000 jobs in Brazil with a new wind project

An image of a farm from one of Amazon's renewable energy projects around the world.

An estimated 1,000 jobs have been created in Brazil during the construction of a new wind farm, located within the Seridó Wind Complex. According to the developer, nearly 50% of those jobs were filled by workers from local communities in the countryside of the Rio Grande do Norte region. Elera Renováveis, the developer, used a drone to install the overhead transmission line conductors for the wind farm, and the wind turbines are 150 meters in diameter—the length of nearly 1.5 football fields. This marks Amazon’s second renewable energy project in Brazil.

Rapidly scaling clean energy in the Asia-Pacific region

Amazon added more than a dozen new clean energy projects across the Asia-Pacific region so far this year. In South Korea, Amazon announced its first renewable energy project in the country, which will create an estimated 2,400 jobs during construction, according to the developer.

In India, Amazon accelerated its clean energy investments over the past year and announced seven utility-scale renewable energy projects in the country since September 2022, including a 198 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Osmanabad. The company also invested in dozens of solar projects on the rooftops of local Amazon facilities, making Amazon the largest corporate purchaser of renewables in India, according to BloombergNEF and publicly available data, with a total of 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity purchased to date across India.

An image of a farm from one of Amazon's renewable energy projects around the world.

In China, Amazon announced two new wind farms, including Amazon Wind Farm China–Daqing, which began operating in March 2023, and Amazon Wind Farm China–Bobai. Amazon also invested in new solar projects in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.

Surpassing 4 GW of renewable energy in Texas

Amazon invested in 11 utility-scale projects in Texas, which includes the company’s third-largest solar project worldwide—Amazon Solar Farm Texas–Outpost, a 500 MW capacity solar farm in Webb County, Texas. Amazon is also investing in a new wind farm and eight additional solar farms in Texas. The company now has more than 20 renewable energy projects across the state, and once operational, they are expected to generate enough clean energy to power more than 800,000 Texan households—more than the number of households in the Texas cities of Fort Worth and Austin combined.

In addition, the largest renewable energy project in Amazon’s global portfolio—Amazon Wind Farm Texas–Great Prairie—recently began operations in Hansford County, Texas. The project has more than 350 wind turbines and more than 1,000 MW of total capacity. It’s projected to provide an estimated $70 million in additional tax revenue over the next 30 years, according to the developer NextEra.

Bringing clean energy projects to fossil fuel–powered grids

A growing number of Amazon’s solar and wind projects are being launched in regions where the electric grid is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, which means the projects are making a bigger impact on lowering carbon emissions from the local power sector.

A solar wind farm.

For example, Amazon recently announced its first utility-scale renewable energy project in Greece , where the majority of the region’s power comes from carbon-intensive coal and oil. When located in Greece, Amazon’s solar project is expected to help the region avoid more than 16,000 tons of carbon each year. That’s nearly six times more carbon avoided than if the same project was located in a country like Sweden, where the grid is already powered with a higher concentration of clean energy sources.

As part of the company’s broader effort to help rapidly decarbonize power grids, Amazon recently helped co-found the Emissions First Partnership , a coalition of companies committed to modernizing the greenhouse gas accounting standards for the power sector, which will encourage corporations to invest in renewable energy projects in markets where they can help decarbonize the power system faster—a step that is crucial to addressing climate change.

Amazon’s renewable energy investments are part of The Climate Pledge, Amazon’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040—10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.

Learn more about Amazon’s renewable energy projects and The Climate Pledge .

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Slide Show: The World's 10 Largest Renewable Energy Projects

From wind and wave to sun and trash, a look at how existing power plants are providing electricity generated from renewable sources on a massive scale

Slide Show: The World's 10 Largest Renewable Energy Projects

  • Bonus: World's Largest Landfill Gas Recuperation Plant Puente Hills in Whittier, Calif. Producing power from the gas that seeps out of landfills is a better alternative than simply flaring it. (Though it's debatable whether or not landfill gas constitutes a renewable resource, because yields of combustible gas from landfills decline between 2 and 15 percent per year after a landfill is capped and no more garbage is being added, according to Jeff Pierce, vice president of power plant development company SCS energy)... Jeff Pierce, SCS Energy
  • 10. World's Largest Hydroelectric Dam China's Three Gorges Dam On December 18, 2007, the electricity production capacity of China's Three Gorges Dam reached 14.1 gigawatts, surpassing for the first time the 14-gigawatt generating capacity of the Itaipu Dam on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, making it the largest and most productive dam in the world... Andrew Hitchcock
  • 9. World's Largest Wave Power Plant: Aguçadoura Wave Farm near Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal The world's first and only commercial wave power plant resembles a 500-foot- (150 meter-) long, 11 foot- (3.5 meter-) wide snake that floats, half-submerged, on the sea surface...
  • 8. World's Largest Dry Biomass-Fired Power Plant Oy Alholmens Kraft in Pietarsaari, Finland Like most biomass-fired power plants, the Oy Alholmens Kraft power plant relies on locally sourced bark, branches and peat to fuel its enormous boiler—the largest of its kind in the world at 550 megawatts of heat... Alholmens Kraft Oy Ab
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  • 7. World's Most Productive Geothermal Field The Geysers in Sonoma and Lake Counties, Calif. Despite having declined from a peak production of 2,000 megawatts in the mid-1980's to the present value of about 1,000 megawatts, The Geysers remains the most productive geothermal field in the world, providing nearly 60 percent of the electricity used in California's North Coast region, which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border... Calpine
  • 6. World's Largest Photovoltaic Power Plant Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park in Olmedilla de Alarcón, Spain The Olmedilla Photovoltaic (PV) Park uses 162,000 flat solar photovoltaic panels to deliver 60 megawatts of electricity on a sunny day... Nobesol
  • 5. World's Largest Solar Thermal Plant Solar Energy Generating Systems in Southern California Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) has been the world record holder for largest solar thermal project since its completion in 1990... Gregory Kolb, Sandia National Laboratories
  • 4. World's Largest Tidal Power Turbine SeaGen Turbine in Strangford Lough, Ireland Like wind turbines, but powered by the flow of water instead of the flow of air, tidal power turbines transform tides or deep ocean currents into electricity... Sea Generation
  • 3. World's Largest Tidal Power Barrage Rance Tidal Barrage in Bretagne, France Many of the world's largest renewable projects have been around for quite some time: Completed in 1967 at a cost of approximately $134 million, the Rance tidal barrage (dam) is the world's first, and remains the world's largest, power plant that produces electricity from tides...
  • 2. World's Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Lynn and Inner Dowsing Wind Farm Near Skegness, Lincolnshire, England Visible from the beach of Skegness, England, the 54 3.6-megawatt turbines of the Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore wind farm collectively can produce up to 194 megawatts of electricity at peak... Centrica Energy
  • 1. World's Biggest On-Shore Wind Farm Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor and Nolan Counties, Tex. About 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Dallas, 47,000 acres (19,000 hectares) of Texas cedar and scrub oak have been given over to the 421 wind turbines that comprise the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center... NextEra Energy Resources

Bonus: World's Largest Landfill Gas Recuperation Plant

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One of the largest U.S. solar projects secures $779 million financing

The 800 MWdc Illinois-located project, second largest in the nation, is developed by Swift Current Energy.

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Swift Current Energy

The project is currently under construction and is expected to reach commercial operations by 2024.

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Swift Current Energy announced it has secured project financing for the 800 MWdc / 593 MWac Double Black Diamond solar project. Once operational, it will be the second largest solar project in the U.S. and the largest in the MISO regional transmission operation.

Over $779 million in project financing was closed for this project, making it among the largest solar project financings in U.S. history.

Located 30 miles west of Springfield, Illinois, the project is currently under construction and expected to reach commercial operations in 2024. The project is expected to produce enough electricity to provide the equivalent of 100,000 homes and will offset an estimated 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Approximately 450 construction workers are employed at the site, and McCarthy Building Companies is operating as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) partner. First Solar modules, the majority of which are manufactured in the U.S., and U.S.-made Nextracker solar trackers were selected for the project.

“Double Black Diamond Solar is a transformative project, not only for our team, but also the American workers it is employing, the massive amount of emissions-free energy it will produce, and the stable revenue it will provide for the communities in Sangamon and Morgan counties,” said Eric Lammers, chief executive officer and co-founder, Swift Current Energy.

Over the life of its operations, the project is expected to provide $100 million in tax revenue to Sangamon and Morgan counties in central Illinois.

The financing includes $695 million in construction and tax equity bridge loans and an $84 million letter of credit facility. ING acted as the Green Loan Structuring Agent and Wilmington Trust acted as the collateral agent and depositary agent. Swift Current Energy is the project developer and will be the long-term owner and operator.

“Double Black Diamond will meaningfully advance the energy transition at the local, state and national level, while bringing tangible economic benefits to the local community and U.S. workers,” said Jamie Cemm, chief executive officer of BAES Infrastructure, majority owner of Swift Current Energy.

Illinois utility Constellation will purchase a portion of the electricity and renewable energy credits produced at the site. The City of Chicago will source renewable energy produced by the project to power several energy-intensive facilities, including Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport. Additionally, Cook County Illinois, CVS Health, Loyola University of Chicago, PPG, State Farm, and TransUnion have power purchase agreements via Constellation.

Vinson & Elkins LLP and Husch Blackwell LLP represented Swift Current in the transaction. Paul Hastings LLP advised MUFG, Societe Generale, Truist, and the other lenders party to the financing agreements.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com .

Ryan Kennedy

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Solar and battery storage to make up 81% of new U.S. electric-generating capacity in 2024

Developers and power plant owners plan to add 62.8 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in 2024, according to our latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory . This addition would be 55% more added capacity than the 40.4 GW added in 2023 (the most since 2003) and points to a continued rise in industry activity. We expect solar to account for the largest share of new capacity in 2024, at 58%, followed by battery storage, at 23%.

Solar. We expect a record addition of utility-scale solar in 2024 if the scheduled 36.4 GW are added to the grid. This growth would almost double last year’s 18.4 GW increase, which was itself a record for annual utility-scale solar installation in the United States. As the effects of supply chain challenges and trade restrictions ease, solar continues to outpace capacity additions from other generating resources.

More than half of the new utility-scale solar capacity is planned for three states: Texas (35%), California (10%), and Florida (6%). Outside of these states, the Gemini solar facility in Nevada plans to begin operating in 2024. With a planned photovoltaic capacity of 690 megawatts (MW) and battery storage of 380 MW, it is expected to be the largest solar project in the United States when fully operational.

Battery storage. We also expect battery storage to set a record for annual capacity additions in 2024. We expect U.S. battery storage capacity to nearly double in 2024 as developers report plans to add 14.3 GW of battery storage to the existing 15.5 GW this year. In 2023, 6.4 GW of new battery storage capacity was added to the U.S. grid, a 70% annual increase.

Texas, with an expected 6.4 GW, and California, with an expected 5.2 GW, will account for 82% of the new U.S. battery storage capacity. Developers have scheduled the Menifee Power Bank (460.0 MW) at the site of the former Inland Empire Energy Center natural gas-fired power plant in Riverside, California, to come on line in 2024. With the rise of solar and wind capacity in the United States, the demand for battery storage continues to increase. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has also accelerated the development of energy storage by introducing investment tax credits (ITCs) for stand-alone storage. Prior to the IRA, batteries qualified for federal tax credits only if they were co-located with solar.

Wind. Operators report another 8.2 GW of wind capacity is scheduled to come on line in 2024. Following the record additions of more than 14.0 GW in both 2020 and 2021, wind capacity additions have slowed in the last two years.

Two large offshore wind plants scheduled to come on line this year are the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts and the 130-MW South Fork Wind off the coast of New York. South Fork Wind, which developers expected to begin commercial operation last year, is now scheduled to come on line in March 2024.

Natural gas. For 2024, developers report 2.5 GW in planned natural gas capacity additions, the least new natural gas capacity in 25 years. Notably, in 2024, 79% of the natural gas capacity added is to come from simple-cycle, natural gas turbine (SCGT) plants. This year will be the first time since 2001 that combined-cycle capacity was not the predominant natural gas-fired technology. SCGT power plants provide effective grid support because they can start up, ramp up, and ramp down relatively quickly.

Nuclear. Start-up of the fourth reactor (1.1 GW) at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear power plant, originally scheduled for last year, has moved to March 2024. Vogtle Unit 3 began commercial operation at the end of July last year.

Principal contributor: Suparna Ray Data visualization: Suparna Ray, Kristen Tsai

Tags: nuclear , natural gas , generation , electricity , storage , wind , solar , map , capacity

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May 17, 2022

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Invenergy Surpasses 30 Gigawatts of Clean Energy Projects as it Celebrates 20th Anniversary

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  • Solar: 6 GW; 50 projects
  • Thermal: 6 GW; 18 projects
  • Energy Storage: 1+ GW; 18 projects
  • The largest wind farm constructed in a single-phase in the U.S. – Traverse Wind Energy Center Located in central Oklahoma, the 998-megawatt Traverse Wind Energy Center is the largest wind energy development constructed in a single phase in the United States. Traverse is one of three Invenergy-developed and built wind projects that make up the North Central Energy Facilities. With a combined capacity of 1,484 megawatts, they are collectively among the largest wind energy facilities globally.
  • The largest solar project in the U.S. – Samson Solar Energy Center The Samson Solar Energy Center will power daily life as the largest solar energy generation facility in the United States. Under construction in Northeast Texas, the 1,310 MW project will support a record number of corporate and municipality energy goals.
  • State-of-the-art clean power generation facilities – Lackawanna Energy Center The 1,485-megawatt natural gas combined-cycle electric generation facility, located just outside Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the largest project Invenergy has developed, constructed, and operates. World-class energy efficiency design and technology provide for baseload generation and the ability to respond to varying energy demand, enabling further renewable build out.
  • Critical U.S. energy infrastructure project – Grain Belt Express A critical clean energy infrastructure project, the Grain Belt Express transmission project will be the renewable energy and reliability backbone for the United States. The project will carry an abundant harvest of low-cost homegrown clean energy from the Great Plains to millions of American communities in the Midwest and Eastern United States.
  • Largest foreign investment and clean energy projectin El Salvador – Energía del Pacífico Energía del Pacífico (EDP) is a $1 billion liquified natural gas-to-power project at the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador. EDP will provide up to 30% of the country’s energy demand with clean, reliable power by displacing heavy fuel oil generation with natural gas. EDP has contributed millions of dollars to economic and social projects and environmental improvements in El Salvador.
  • The only American-led offshore wind lease in the New York Bight The Leading Light Wind project will be located on approximately 84,000 acres of seabed and is projected to generate more than 2,000 megawatts of wind by 2030 to contribute to the 30-gigawatt-by-2030 national offshore wind energy goal.
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Green Energy

Electrek green energy brief, the us’ largest clean energy infrastructure project is kicking off construction.

Avatar for Michelle Lewis

SunZia, a massive wind power and transmission line project in the US Southwest, is now ready to start construction.

The project is made up of two arms: SunZia Wind and SunZia Transmission.

SunZia Wind is the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere. The 3,500-megawatt (MW) wind farm sprawls across New Mexico’s counties of Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel.

SunZia Transmission is a 550-mile ± 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona. It has the capacity to transport 3,000 MW of clean energy.

SunZia Transmission will enable SunZia Wind to supply customers in Arizona and California during early evening hours when demand is high but the available renewable energy supply is low. It’s going to use the same corridor as the Western Spirit Transmission Line :

energy project largest

The project’s California-based renewable energy developer Pattern Energy Group said today that it’s selected Hitachi Energy and Quanta Services as its engineering, procurement, and construction contractors to build the project.

Hitachi Energy, which has delivered more than half of the HVDC projects in North America, will supply the HVDC converter stations as well as its HVDC Light technology and MACH digital control platform for SunZia Transmission. Hitachi’s technology enables the efficient transfer and integration of huge volumes of renewable energy over long distances.

Infrastructure provider Quanta will provide a “turnkey solution” for the HVDC line, and Blattner Company, a Quanta operating company, will also provide “turnkey solutions” for SunZia Wind and its associated switchyard. That includes the installation of more than 900 turbines, 10 substations, multiple operations and maintenance facilities, and more than 100 miles of wind generation transmission lines.

Pattern says SunZia, which represents an investment of more than $5 billion, will “power the needs of more than 3 million Americans.” It is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs, has an expected economic impact of $20.5 billion, and is expected to come online in 2026.

Read more: This device can unlock electrical data from whole neighborhoods

Photo: Pattern Energy Group

UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes . — *ad .

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Green Energy

Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, …

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Michelle Lewis is a writer and editor on Electrek and an editor on DroneDJ, 9to5Mac, and 9to5Google. She lives in White River Junction, Vermont. She has previously worked for Fast Company, the Guardian, News Deeply, Time, and others. Message Michelle on Twitter or at [email protected]. Check out her personal blog.

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Press Release

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U.S. Department of Energy Announces $15 Million for 12 Projects Developing High-Energy Storage Solutions to Electrify Domestic Aircraft, Railroads & Ships

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $15 million for 12 projects across 11 states to advance next-generation, high-energy storage solutions to help accelerate the electrification of the aviation, railroad, and maritime transportation sectors. Funded through the Pioneering Railroad, Oceanic and Plane ELectrification with 1K energy storage systems ( PROPEL-1K ) program, projects will develop energy storage systems with “1K” technologies capable of achieving or exceeding 1000 Watt-hour per kilogram (Wh/kg) and 1000 Watt-hour per liter (Wh/L), which is a greater than four times energy density improvement compared to current technologies. This effort supports President Biden’s 2050 net-zero climate goals.

“Reducing emissions in the transportation sector—which is the largest contributor to the country’s greenhouse gas emissions—is critical to achieving President Biden’s clean energy and climate goals,” said ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang. “ARPA-E is pleased to announce the dozen teams that will pursue exciting new solutions for powering and electrifying heavy-duty transportation.”

Managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the selected 12 project teams will work on high-energy storage solutions, capable of catalyzing broad electrification of aviation, railroad and maritime sectors:

  • And Battery Aero (Palo Alto, CA) and its collaborators are developing battery cells, stacks, and systems using fluorinated electrodes to usher in a new type of battery chemistry for aviation applications. The team will focus on enhancing energy density of the cell design through electrode materials optimization and electrolyte formulation. The proposed approach would also innovate battery pack design to reduce energy density penalty due to packaging. (Award amount: $983,445)
  • Aurora Flight Sciences (Manassas, VA) is working on an aluminum air energy storage and power generation system to provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for powering heavy-duty transportation. The technology’s novelty lies in its ability to facilitate aluminum combustion, resulting in the production of hydrogen that powers a solid-oxide fuel cell. The heat and electricity generated by this process are subsequently utilized for propulsion. The system utilizes a platform that separates energy and power, allowing for swappable energy boxes or pumpable fuel, that can be rapidly and seamlessly charged and discharged mechanically from the vehicle. (Award amount: $1,499,375)
  • Georgia Tech Research Corporation (Atlanta, GA) will advance an alkali hydroxide triple phase flow battery (3PFB) to enable reversible operation of ultrahigh energy density battery chemistries. The approach takes inspiration from fuel injectors in internal combustion engines and from conventional flow batteries. The proposed design leverages innovative pumping and handling of molten alkali metal and hydroxide species to maximize the volume of reactants over inactive components and thus increase energy density. (Award amount: $1,317,842)
  • Giner (Newton, MA) will package hydrogen in a paste to power fuel cells, eliminating the need for high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks. The power paste—a mix of magnesium and hydrogen stored in a cartridge—would trigger the release of hydrogen gas when water is added. The paste is not flammable or explosive. The team will also update the system’s fuel cell to operate at lower humidity, making the approach more versatile and lower volume, improving the overall energy density of the design. (Award amount: $1,500,000)
  • Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) (Chicago, IL) focuses on a solid-state lithium-air battery that would overcome previous challenges with lithium-air technologies through several key innovations. IIT’s approach features a composite polymer solid-state electrolyte with no liquid component, a cathode module with a highly active catalyst and oxygen uptake ability, advanced air flow, and a new cell architecture. The inexpensive battery materials in IIT’s technology improves supply chain resilience, and the battery could have up to three to four times greater energy density than current lithium-ion batteries. (Award amount: $1,500,000)
  • Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) will work on a high-energy-density hydrogen carrier using methylcyclohexane to create a fuel cell (FC) system that holds higher mass-specific energy densities than conventional systems. The proposed hydrogen FC uses closed loop cyclic hydrogen carriers. The FC system can also be rapidly (~10 min) replenished via pumping. (Award amount: $625,000)
  • Precision Combustion (North Haven, CT) and its hybrid fuel-cell battery system features an electrochemical wafer that uses liquid hydrogen as fuel to generate energy, coupled with a high-power lithium-ion battery, to enable peak-power operation. The progressive energy storage system hybridizes a highly efficient advanced electrochemical device and a small rechargeable battery and pairs them with a high-energy-density carbon-free fuel. The process intensified architecture has the potential to deliver significantly more power density than other systems in development. (Award amount: $1,221,058)
  • Propel Aero (Ann Arbor, MI) and its “Redox Engine” technology would provide considerable power performance and deliver the energy density required to meet the demands of electric aircraft. The cost of electricity for the technology would be comparable to jet fuel. Given the low cost and high specific energy, the Redox Engine can address electrification of shipping and trains as well. (Award amount: $1,117,000)
  • University of Maryland (College Park, MD) will develop a rechargeable lithium carbon monofluoride cathode chemistry to meet PROPEL-1K technical targets. This new chemistry builds on previous work at UMD on halogen conversion-intercalation chemistry but targets significantly higher energy through active material, electrolyte, and other cell chemistry modifications. The cell is assembled in the discharged state, significantly lowering cost relative to high-energy Li-metal cells that are built in the charged state (and hence require the use of Li-metal foils). The cell chemistry work will be combined with performance and cost modeling at several scales to demonstrate a path to meet the final system PROPEL-1K targets. (Award amount: $1,483,595)
  • Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and its modular energy system combines ceramic fuel cell technology with an innovative way to package hydrogen in the liquid form. The approach uses a self-pressurizing heat recovery and hydrogen expander module coupled with a proton conducting ceramic fuel cell. The high-temperature system enables energy recovery and significant weight savings through omission of radiative heat exchangers used for cooling. (Award amount: $803,945)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO) will use a Li-Air battery with ionic liquids to deliver efficient, reliable, and durable performance for high-energy and high-power applications. The proposed Li-Air flow battery would feature circulating ionic liquid saturated with oxygen to overcome critical challenges to Li-Air battery development, including achieving power rate capability and specific energy targets. The team will synthesize ionic liquids with high oxygen solubility, low viscosity, ultra-low volatility, and high ionic conductivity. Preliminary experimental results have demonstrated a tenfold increase in capacity using a circulating electrolyte. (Award amount: $1,499,985)
  • Wright Electric (Malta, NY) and Columbia University are developing an aluminum-air flow battery that has swappable aluminum anodes that allow for mechanical recharging. Aluminum air chemistry can achieve high energy density but historically has encountered issues with rechargeability and clogging from reaction products. To overcome these barriers, Wright Electric uses a 3D design instead of a 2D planar chemistry to improve the contact between anode and cathode. The system also circulates the electrolyte, preventing the accumulation of reaction products within the cell structure to remedy limitations of static aluminum-air batteries. (Award amount: $1,499,098)

Access project descriptions for the teams announced today on the ARPA-E website . These selections represent the first phase of an expected two-phase program. Phase 1 is expected to be completed in 18 months following contract completion. If successful, PROPEL-1K technologies will electrify regional flights traveling as far as 1,000 miles with up to 100 people, all North American railroads, and all vessels operating exclusively in U.S. territorial waters.

ARPA-E advances high-potential, high-impact clean energy technologies across a wide range of technical areas that are strategic to America's energy security. Learn more about these efforts and ARPA-E's commitment to ensuring the United States continues to lead the world in developing and deploying advanced clean energy technologies.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.

Press and General Inquiries: 202-287-5440 [email protected]

Renewable Energy World

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“Largest clean energy project in U.S. history” secures $11B in financing, starts full construction

“Largest clean energy project in U.S. history” secures $11B in financing, starts full construction

SunZia to supply 3,000 MW of clean energy to Arizona and California

They say good things come to those who wait. Clean energy customers in the Southwest are about to put that adage to the test.

After more than 17 years of navigating permits and approvals, Pattern Energy Group has closed $11 billion in non-recourse financing and started full construction of SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind. The tandem is being billed by the company as the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.

SunZia Transmission is a 550-mile ± 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW across Western states. SunZia Transmission will deliver power generated by Pattern Energy’s 3,515 MW SunZia Wind facility (the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere), which is being constructed across Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.

SunZia Wind and Transmission will employ more than 2,000 workers on-site during construction, including heavy equipment operators, electricians, laborers, and others. The EPC Contractor of the transmission line is Quanta Infrastructure Solutions Group and the HVDC supplier is Hitachi Energy . The EPC contractor for the wind project is Blattner Energy , a Quanta-affiliated company. The wind turbines are being supplied by GE Vernova and Vestas .

The project’s financing includes an integrated construction loan and letter of credit facility, two separate term facilities, an operating phase letter of credit facility, a tax equity term loan facility, and a holding company loan facility.

“Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our transition to a carbon-free future,” said Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy in a press release. “We are very grateful to all of our financial partners who are backing SunZia as part of this record-setting project financing. Construction is well underway on this historic project that will deliver clean power with a generation profile that complements abundant solar generation available across the Western United States.”

Construction began on the project in late 2023, after the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, issued its Notice to Proceed. However, work came to a halt in southwestern Arizona last November, as Native American tribes argued the federal government ignored concerns about how the transmission line may impact religious and cultural sites.

Federal land managers temporarily suspended work on the SunZia transmission project along a 50-mile segment after the Tohono O’odham Nation asked for immediate intervention, saying bulldozers were clearing a stretch of the San Pedro Valley and that one or more historic sites were demolished.

Renewable energy advocates have said SunZia will be a key artery  in the Biden administration’s plan for boosting renewables and improving reliability along the nation’s power grids. The line will stretch about 550 miles (885 kilometers) from central New Mexico, transporting electricity from massive wind farms to populated areas as far away as California.

Developer Pattern Energy has billed the SunZia project as an energy infrastructure undertaking bigger than the Hoover Dam. Executives and federal officials gathered in New Mexico in September to officially break ground on the project. SunZia Transmission and Pattern Energy have partnered with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) on the development of the transmission line in New Mexico.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.

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Power of Nature: Largest Renewable Energy Projects in the World

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The world is rapidly transitioning towards clean energy for sustainability. In fact, companies like Azure Power, First Solar Ocean Power Technologies, Suzlon, and Vestas are progressing towards building the world’s largest renewable energy projects in wide-ranging domains. These renewable energy projects are amplified in terms of size as well as power generating capacity. For instance, Saudi Arabia and SoftBank have joined hands to build the world’s largest solar farm by 2030. This $200 billion project will produce mammoth solar power -200 gigawatts, 100 times greater than any of the current clean energy project.

Here is a consolidated catalog of the world’s largest renewable energy projects that are operational presently. Further, the biggest renewable energy projects list is categorized into solar-powered, hydro-powered, wind-powered, biomass-powered, geothermal-powered and tidal-powered domains.

Solar-Powered Largest Renewable Energy   Projects

Tengger desert solar park.

World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects

Known as ‘The Great Wall of Solar’ , Tengger Desert Solar Park is located in China. It is the world’s biggest renewable energy project presently. The largest solar farm is installed in Zhongwei, Ningxia and has a total capacity of 1547 MW. Tengger Solar Farm spans over a landscape of 1,200 km 2  which is 3.2% of 36,700 km 2  Tengger desert belt.

Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base

Largest Renewable Energy Project

Divided into three phases, each of 1 GW capacity, Datong Solar Power in China will rank number one in the list of the largest renewable energy projects in the world post completion. With 1 GW power production capacity, Datong generated 870 million watts of electricity between July 2016 and January 2017, as per Government statistics.

Kamuthi Solar-Powered Energy Project

Kamuthi in Tamil Nadu , India happens to be the world’s biggest renewable energy project built on a single location. The solar power project was commissioned by the Adani Group with an investment of worth INR 45.5 billion. Surprisingly, the 648 MW power plant was completed within a short period of eight months. It covers a huge area of 2,500 acres and comprises 2.5 million solar modules, 380,000 foundations, 30,000 tonnes of structure, 6000 km of cables, 576 inverters and 154 transformers.

Hydroelectric-Powered Largest Renewable Energy   Projects

Three gorges dam.

The Three Gorges hydroelectric-powered plant is the world’s biggest hydropower dam in terms of installed capacity of 22,400 MW and annual power generation of 98.8 TWh. It is constructed on the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, China.

World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects Biggest

Furthermore, the giant power station includes 32 generators rated 700MW each, and two power generators with a capacity of 50 MW. China Three Gorges Corporation manages the Three Georges through its subsidiary China Yangtze Power. The plant was constructed between 1993 and 2012 with a cost of $29 billion. In particular, the primary 700MW unit was installed in July 2003 and the concluding one was completed in 2012.

Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant

Biggest World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects

Situated between Brazil and Paraguay, Itaipu hydroelectric power station reached the mark of producing 100TWh power. It reported 103.09TWh of production and surpassed the Three Gorges milestone of 98.8TWh in January 2017.

The second largest hydroelectric power project has installed capacity of 14MW and consists of 20 generating units, each with a capacity of 700MW. Itaipu consists of 20 generating units with a capacity of 700MW each. The dam’s reservoir covers a region of 1,350km² on Parana River. This largest renewable energy project construction began in 1975 and budgeted $19.6 billion. The hydro-electric power plant commenced operations in 1984 under the management of Itaipu Binacional.

Xiluodu Dam

China is the hub of few of the world’s biggest renewable projects. Xiluodu Dam, the world’s the third-largest hydropower plant is constructed by the Three Gorges Corporation. Located on Jinsha River Valley, between Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China, the dam has an installed capacity of the 13.9GW. It includes 18 Francis turbine-generators of 770MW each and an air-cooled generator with 855.6MVA output. The construction of the Xiluodu began in December 2005 and the construction cost is about $6.2 billion

Wind-Powered Largest Renewable Energy   Projects

London array.

London Array wind farm is the world’s biggest offshore wind-powered operational project. Sited in the Thames Estuary, UK, the renewable energy project spans an offshore area of 100 km 2 and has an installed capacity of 630MW. Developed by a consortium of Masdar, E.ON and DONG Energy, the offshore area of the wind farm is approximately 100km². The world’s biggest off-shore renewable energy project, London Array wind farm has 175 wind turbines.

The World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects

Gemini Wind Park

Located in the Dutch North Sea, Netherlands, Gemini Wind Park comprises of 150 Siemens turbines with a capacity of 4MW each, combinedly producing 600MW. The largest renewable energy project of Netherlands spreads over an area of 68 2 km and costs €2.8 billion. Gemini Wind Park owners are Northland Power (60% stake), Siemens Financial Services (20% stake), Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors (10% stake) and N.V. HVC (10% stake). Gemini will generate 2.6 TWh of sustainable energy per year.

Gansu Wind Farm

Gansu Wind Farm project is a set of large wind parks under construction in the Gansu province, a desert area located in China. The project is also referred to as Jiuquan Wind Power Base. The Gansu Wind Farm Project is divided into three phases, out of which the first phase is completed. When the project will complete in 2020, it will be the world’s biggest renewable energy project in wind energy segment with an immense energy production of 20,000MW. However, with an installed capacity of 6000MW, it is yet the largest on-shore renewable energy project in the world.

The Largest Renewable Energy Projects

Alta Wind Energy Center, California, USA

Following Gansu Project, the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC) is America’s largest wind farm and the second largest on-shore area in the world. Alta wind farm is situated in the 3,200 acres in the foothills of Tehachapi Pass in Kern County, California.

The Biggest Renewable Energy Project

The energy center encompasses 600 turbines and supplies 1,547MW of renewable energy. The renewable energy project was completed in 2014 and it aims to produce 3000MW power by 2040. It is managed by Terra-Gen Power, an affiliate of Arclight Capital Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners.

AWEC is also known as Mojave Wind Farm,  It will continue through to 2040 under a 3,000 MW wind power development initiative, producing enough electricity to power 450,000 homes.

Biomass-Powered Largest Renewable Energy   Projects

Alholmens kraft power station, finland.

World's Biggest Renewable Energy Project

Alholmens Kraft is the world’s largest biomass-fueled power station. It is based at the factory premises of UPM-Kymmene in Alholmen, Jakobstad, Finland. The Finland-based renewable energy power project commenced operations in January 2002. The biomass-powered renewable energy project supplies 100MW of heat for the UPM paper mill and 60MW of district heating for the Jakobstad residents. The complete capacity of the power plant is 265MW.

Polaniec Power Station

World's Biggest Renewable Energy Project

The second largest renewable energy project in the biomass field is Polaniec Power Station. To produce a 205MW capacity, the biomass-fuelled plant utilizes 80 percent tree-farming and 20 percent agricultural by-products as fuel.

Located at Polaniec in south-east Poland, the renewable energy power project began commercial operation in November 2012. It is owned and operated by GDF SUEZ.

Kymijärvi II

Lahti Energy’s Kymijärvi II power plant located in the Lahti city of Finland is placed as the world’s third-biggest biomass power plant. The renewable energy sourced power plant produces 160MW through gasification of solid recovered fuel (SRF) such as unclean plastic, paper, cardboard, and wood. Kymijärvi II biomass-power station started operations in May 2012. The plant generates 600GWh of district heat and 300GWh of electricity.

Geothermal-Powered Largest Renewable Energy   Projects

The geysers geothermal field.

World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects Geysers

The world’s largest geothermal power project, the Geysers situated in Mayacamas Mountains at Northern California, USA is a beautiful site. The largest geothermal power project stretches to 45 square miles along the Sonoma and Lake County border. The Geysers is the world’s biggest individual complex of the geothermal fields that comprises of 22 geothermal power plants with an active installed capacity of 1,517MW.

Lardarello Geothermal Complex

World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects Larderello

The Lardarello Geothermal Complex is based in central Italy, near Tuscany. It is one of the oldest renewable projects in the world beginning operations as early as 1913. For generating 770 MW of electricity, Lardarello is comprised by 34 plants Moreover, the second largest geothermal complex contributes for 10% of the world’s geothermal energy. The plant is owned by Enel Green Power currently.

Cerro Prieto Station

World's Biggest Renewable Energy Projects Cerro

Mexico is one of the oldest countries to show interest in renewable energy and operate geothermal power stations. The Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station is a large complex comprised of five geothermal power stations located near Mexicali, in the Baja California region of Mexico. The complex has an installed capacity of 720 MW, placing it as the third largest geothermal project in the world. The project’s construction began in 1973 and probably completed in 2010.

Tidal-Powered Largest Renewable Energy   Projects

Sihwa lake tidal power station.

Taking benefits of Yellow Sea’s high tides, South Korea endows the world’s largest power producing tidal barrage, the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station. It is a 400-meter long tidal power plant construction stretched in 12.7 km dike. The $355 million tidal power plant generates a maximum output of 254 MW.

World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects Sihwa

The construction of marine-sourced largest renewable energy project began in 2004 and took seven years to finish. The tidal power plant is equipped with ten bulb-type generator units, each producing 552.7 GWh per year. The project is owned by Korean Water Resource Corporation.

La Rance Tidal Power Station

World's Largest Renewable Energy Projects La Rance

Operational since 1966, La Rance Tidal Power Station was the first renewable energy project to take benefit of the kinetic energy of tidal water flow in order to produce electricity. The 240MW La Rance tidal power plant is situated on the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France, covering a basin area of 22km 2 . Electricite de France (EDF) is the owner and operator of La Rance power station.

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Interesting Engineering

Pattern Energy secures $11B fund for US' largest clean energy project

I n a historic move for the renewable energy sector, Pattern Energy , a leading player, has successfully closed an $11 billion non-recourse financing deal for the SunZia Wind and SunZia Transmission project.

This initiative, touted as the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history, is set to bring clean power to approximately three million Americans and generate over $20 billion in expected economic impacts.

SunZia Transmission: A 550-mile clean energy superhighway

SunZia Transmission , a 550-mile (885-kilometer) ± 525 kV (kilovolt) high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line, is a critical component of this groundbreaking endeavor. It will connect central New Mexico to south-central Arizona, boasting a remarkable capacity to transport 3,000 megawatts (MW) of clean, reliable, and affordable electricity across Western states.

Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy, emphasizes the significance of this achievement, stating, "Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our transition to a carbon-free future."

The financing structure for this colossal project includes an integrated construction loan, a letter of credit facility, two separate term facilities, an operating phase letter of credit facility, an innovative tax equity term loan facility, and a holding company loan facility.

A consortium of major financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Wells Fargo Securities, and others, acted as Initial Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners, highlighting the widespread industry support for this venture.

Green loan principles and tax equity

Notably, the financings are structured as green loan facilities in alignment with the Green Loan Principles, underscoring the commitment to sustainable practices. Banco Santander and Santander Bank provided a $2.25 billion tax equity term loan facility, monetizing project tax credit attributes and emphasizing the diverse financial instruments mobilized for this project.

SunZia Wind, a 3,515 MW wind facility, is a pivotal element of this project and is currently the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere. With construction underway across Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico, the project aims to employ over 2,000 workers during its construction phase.

The transmission line's EPC Contractor is Quanta Infrastructure Services Group, and Hitachi Energy serves as the HVDC supplier, underlining the collaboration of industry leaders in bringing this project to fruition.

Bill Rogers, Managing Director of Sustainable Energies at CPP Investments, applauds the project, stating, "SunZia represents an important step forward in the global transition to renewable energy." This sentiment is echoed by Yakov Tsveig of Riverstone Holdings LLC, emphasizing the significance of SunZia in Pattern Energy's journey since its formation in 2009.

Turbine supply agreement and Vestas' milestone order

In a related development, Vestas, the wind turbine giant, secured a monumental order from Pattern Energy Group to supply 242 V163-4.5 MW turbines for SunZia Wind. This 1.1 gigawatts (GW) order, Vestas' largest to date in the U.S. market, underscores the project's scale and impact on the renewable energy landscape. Vestas aims to commence turbine delivery in Q1 2025, with final commissioning scheduled for H1 2026.

The SunZia project is a testament to the renewable energy sector's ability to secure substantial financing and execute complex, large-scale projects. With construction well underway, SunZia is set to play a pivotal role in advancing the world's energy transition , serving as a model for ambitious clean energy initiatives globally.

Pattern Energy secures $11B fund for US' largest clean energy project

Three New Wind Energy Market Reports Highlight Growth in Wind Energy Deployment and Domestic Supply Chain, Creating Good-Paying Jobs Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released three annual reports showing that wind power continues to be one of the fastest growing and lowest cost sources of electricity in America and is poised for rapid growth. According to the new reports, wind power accounted for 22% of new electricity capacity installed in the United States in 2022, second only to solar, representing $12 billion in capital investment, and employing more than 125,000 Americans. The reports found that transformative tax incentives in President Biden’s Investing in America agenda—a key pillar of Bidenomics—have led to significant increases in near-term wind deployment forecasts and are helping keep wind power prices competitive with other sources of energy like natural gas. Since taking office, President Biden has launched the most ambitious climate agenda in history, and wind energy both onshore and offshore will continue to play a significant role in achieving the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented clean energy goals.

“As one of the cheapest energy sources nationwide, wind energy generates enough electricity to power more than 43 million homes and is creating good-paying jobs for the growing domestic wind energy workforce,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is expanding our nation’s domestic supply chain, increasing energy security, and growing the wind energy market to drive our clean energy future.”

Since the passage of President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, forecasts for land-based wind energy installed in 2026 have increased nearly 60% from about 11,500 megawatts (MW) to 18,000 MW, which is enough to power an additional two million homes. There have also been at least eleven announcements of manufacturing facilities that plan to open, re-open, or expand to serve the land-based wind industry. And the advanced manufacturing production tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act is estimated to reduce the cost of offshore wind blades by 27% and steel towers by 18%.

The 2023 edition of the Land-Based Wind Market Report , prepared by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, details the 8,511 MW of new utility-scale land-based wind generation capacity added in 2022—the equivalent of powering 2.5 million American homes. Key findings from the report include:

  • Wind energy provided 10% of total electricity nationwide, more than 60% of power in Iowa, and over 40% of power in South Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
  • 14 states installed new utility-scale land-based wind turbines in 2022. Texas installed the most capacity, with 4,028 MW. Other leading states included Oklahoma and Nebraska, which each adding more than 600 MW of capacity in 2022.
  • For the first time, non-utility buyers, such as corporations, are purchasing more wind than utilities. Direct retail purchasers of wind—including corporate commitments—buy electricity from at least 44% of the new wind capacity installed in 2022.
  • Wind turbines continue to grow in size and power, contributing to competitive costs and prices. The average capacity of newly installed wind turbines grew 7% from 2021 to 2022, to 3.2 MW, while the hub height—distance from the ground to the middle of the turbine’s rotor—increased 4% from 2021 to 2022, to 98.1 meters, slightly taller than the Statue of Liberty. Taller wind turbines can create more electricity by benefitting from the better wind resources available further from the ground.
  • For wind projects built in 2022, the estimated public health benefits, climate benefits, and value to the grid are worth more than five times the cost of generating electricity from wind energy.

In addition to growth in land-based wind, the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic actions to build a clean energy economy – a key pillar of Bidenomics – have also jumpstarted an American offshore wind industry that will create good-paying jobs, strengthen the nation’s energy security, make the power grid more reliable while lowering energy costs, and reduce dangerous climate pollution. The 2023 edition of the Offshore Wind Market Report , prepared by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, shows continued progress toward the President’s goal of advancing offshore wind to promote good-paying domestic jobs and provide clean energy.

This report found that the capacity of U.S. offshore wind energy projects being developed and currently operating increased 15% from the previous year to 52,687 MW, which if fully developed would be enough to power over 18 million American homes. This includes two operating projects totaling 42 MW, 40 projects under development totaling 47,606 MW, and an additional 5,039 MW of potential capacity in the planning stage. The report also found:

  • In 2022, the domestic offshore wind industry invested $2.7 billion in ports, vessels, supply chain, and transmission, indicating investor confidence in the U.S. offshore wind energy market.
  • The Biden-Harris Administration expanded offshore wind planning beyond the north and mid-Atlantic, including five new lease areas auctioned off the coast of California – the first ever offshore wind lease sale on the Pacific Coast and the first to support commercial-scale floating offshore wind . There are also plans to auction three new wind energy areas for the first time in the Gulf of Mexico. 
  • New Jersey and New York combine for the highest energy capacity in the U.S. offshore wind energy pipeline, with more than 20,000 MW, followed by Massachusetts (8,189 MW), and California (6,102 MW).
  • State policies across 13 states aim to procure 112,286 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2050.
  • Major efforts are underway in New York, New Jersey, New England, and California to integrate offshore wind energy into long-term state grid planning.  

The 2023 edition of the Distributed Wind Market Report , prepared by DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, notes that 1,755 distributed wind turbines were added across 13 states in 2022. Distributed wind turbines, which serve on-site energy demand or support operation of local electricity distribution networks, total 29.5 MW of new capacity and represent $84 million in new investment in 2022. Key findings from the report include:

  • Cumulative U.S. distributed wind capacity stands at 1,104 MW from over 90,000 wind turbines across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam.
  • Iowa, California, and Nebraska led the United States in distributed wind capacity additions in 2022, with two large-scale distributed wind projects in Iowa and one large project each in California and Nebraska.
  • For small wind capacity additions, defined as turbines up to 100 kilowatts in size, Minnesota led the nation again in 2022. This is largely attributed to a continued push to sell small wind turbines to agricultural markets as a decarbonization solution.

The three market reports, including supporting blogs and infographics, are available at energy.gov/windreport .

Learn more about the Wind Energy Technologies Office in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Ten of the world’s largest renewable energy projects

energy project largest

The year ahead promises valuable new growth paths for the renewable energy industry as concern for climate change grows. With this in mind, here’s a look at 10 of the world’s largest renewable energy projects.

Rapid improvements in technology and falling costs of  renewable energy  resources have made renewables one of the most competitive energy sources. With new projects receiving more funding than ever before, renewable energy is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries .

Last was a record-breaking year for the sector as it remained resilient against widespread global disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to  Deloitte , wind and solar capacity installations remained at an all-time high, with capacity additions of 13.8 GW in the first eight months representing an increase of 28 % in comparison to the same period in 2020.

In 2022, renewable energy growth is expected to accelerate even further as concern for climate change and demand for cleaner energy sources from most market segments grow. As the need and demand for clean, sustainable energy continues to increase and renewable technologies become more advanced, more renewable energy projects are being developed.

While every renewable energy project is just as important as the next when it comes to improving the world’s energy supply, it’s important to understand the sheer scale that some of these projects operate on to truly appreciate just how important renewable energy is for the future of our planet .

With this in mind, let’s look at some of the largest  renewable energy projects across four different types of renewable energy sources: solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal . These are in no particular order and “larger” projects (i.e., other than those listed) may exist.

Largest solar renewable energy projects

Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, there was a surge in new solar farms as governments all around the world rushed to achieve their national clean energy targets. For a long time, the U.S. led the world in solar but today, countries such as India and China are dominating the space.

Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park, China

China is the world leader when it comes to solar capacity, so it is fitting that the country is also home to the world’s largest solar park. Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park, also known as the Golmud Solar Park , is a 2.3 GW solar project in the arid climate region of Qinghai Province.

Huanghe is state-owned by Huanghe Hydropower Development and the project is aiming to reach a maximum solar capacity of 16 GW over the next few years. So far, more than USD2.2 billion has been invested into the solar park which was officially connected to the grid in 2020.

See the impact of the largest photovoltaic power plant in China in this video:

Sweihan Photovoltaic Independent Power Project, UAE

The Sweihan Photovoltaic Independent Power Project is located in Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, and covers an area of 7.8 square kilometers . The solar plant was developed by a joint venture of Marubeni Corporation, Junko Solar, and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority with a total investment of USD870 million.

The project uses an innovative module layout design, high-efficiency monocrystalline solar modules, and advanced project maintenance to ensure that the cost of power generation remains low. Commercial operations at the plant began in April 2019 and the latest figures show that it supplies power to more than 195,000 homes in the region.

Enel Villanueva Photovoltaic Plant, Mexico

Enel Villanueva PV Plant is located in the Mexican state of Coahuila. The PV facility is made up of more than 2.5 million solar panels spread out across 2,400 hectares in the Mexican semi-arid region. The 828 MW plant became fully operational in September 2018 and has a maximum production capacity of more than 2,000 GWh per year.

Enel Group invested more than USD700 million into the construction of the plant and deployed a unique pilot program using digital technologies and automation for the plant’s construction. This included the use of GPS-controlled machines for moving earth, drones for 3D topography, and robots for panel installation.

Largest wind renewable energy projects

Wind energy  is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources. According to the 16 th  Annual Global Wind Energy Council report, 93 GW of new capacity was added in 2020, representing a 53 % year-on-year increase.

Gansu Wind Farm, China

Gansu Wind Farm, also known as the Jiuquan Wind Power Base , is in the west of China’s Gansu province on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert. It has a planned capacity of 20 GW making it one of the world’s largest, if not the largest, wind farms.

The Gansu project is worth an estimated USD17.5 billion and comes as part of the Chinese government’s plans to invest USD360 billion into renewable energy sources. Phase one of the project was completed in 2010 with 3,500 turbines installed.

When the construction of the farm is complete, it will include more than 7,000 wind turbines and, in theory, produce enough energy to power a small country. At the time of writing this article, the farm has just under 8,000 MW (8 GW) of installed capacity.

Alta Wind Energy Centre, United States

The Alta Wind Energy Centre, also known as the Mojave Wind Farm , is located in the Tehachapi Pass of the Tehachapi Mountains, in Kern County, California. With an installed capacity of 1,550 MW , it is the largest wind farm in the United States and there are plans to increase this capacity to 3,000 MW in the future.

The Mojave Wind Farm was originally developed by Terra-Gen Power and construction began in July 2010 and wrapped up in 2013. The project initially aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 5.2 million metric tonnes and generate power for 275,000 residences in California. Today, it supplies around 1,500 MW to Southern California Edison, the primary electricity supplier for most of Southern California.

Hornsea One, United Kingdom

Hornsea One is the world’s largest and most famous offshore wind farm located off the Yorkshire coast with a total capacity of 1.2 GW . It was the world’s first offshore wind farm to surpass 1 GW in installed capacity. The wind farm covers 407 square kilometers and is made up of 174 Siemens turbines with a capacity of 7 MW each.

Hornsea One officially became operational in early 2020 and produces enough energy to power more than 1 million UK homes . The project is owned 50-50 by both Ørsted and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and is part of an USD8.7 billion investment to transform the Humber region into a renewable energy hub.

Largest hydroelectric renewable energy projects

Hydropower is one of the oldest and most widely used renewable energy sources. China is the world’s largest producer of hydroelectricity and operates three of the world’s 10 biggest hydroelectric power plants.

Three Gorges, China

Three Gorges is a 22.5 GW hydroelectric power plant in Yichang, China. It’s the world’s largest hydropower station and is a conventional impoundment facility that exploits the water resources of the Yangtze River to produce electricity.

Construction of the USD29 billion Three Gorges facility began in 1993 and was completed almost 20 years later in 2012. As part of the project, a 181 meter tall and 2,335-meter long gravity dam was built. The plant itself consists of 32 turbine units that are each rated over 700 MW, and two 50 MW power generators. The annual output of the hydroelectric plant is estimated to be around 85 TWh .

Itaipu, Brazil/Paraguay

The 14 GW Itaipu hydroelectric plant is located on the Parana River at the border between Brazil and Paraguay. Construction of Itaipu began all the way back in 1972 and was completed in 1982 at a cost of USD19.6 billion. Power production at the facility began in 1984.

In 2018, the Itaipu facility supplied 15 % of Brazil’s and 90 % of Paraguay’s energy consumption. It consists of 20 generating units with a capacity of 700 MW each. It produced 103.1 million MWh in 2016, which at the time made it the biggest generating hydropower plant in the world.

Take a closer look at the Itaipu Binacional Hydroelectric Plant in this video:

Largest geothermal renewable energy projects

Geothermal activity has been chugging along in the background — or rather, below the surface — for centuries, and we’re only just now beginning to utilize it for energy production. While Iceland is famous for powering its entire country with geothermal energy, the largest geothermal project is located in the United States .

The Geysers Geothermal Complex, United States

Located around 120 kilometers north of San Francisco is Geysers Geothermal Complex, the world’s largest geothermal energy project. The complex is made up of 15 power plants that together have a combined installed capacity of 1,205 MW (1.2 GW) .

The Geysers complex coves an area of 78 square kilometers and production from the geothermal field has been going on since the 1960s.

Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station, Mexico

Operating with an installed capacity of 720 MW , Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station is located in south Mexicali, Baja California. Like all geothermal fields in Mexico, it’s owned and operated by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Cerro Prieto features four plants that together are made up of 13 units. The first plant at the facility was commissioned in 1973 while the fourth plant was commissioned in 2000. The turbines at Cerro Prieto include four 110 MW condensing type, four 110 MW double-flash type, four 37.5 MW single-flash type, four 25 MW single-flash type, and one 30 MW single-flash type.

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Pattern Energy Closes $11 Billion Financing of Largest Clean Energy Infrastructure Project in U.S. History

December 27, 2023

Full construction underway on SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind, bringing clean power to 3 million Americans and over $20 billion in expected economic impacts

Albuquerque, New Mexico, December 27, 2023 – Pattern Energy Group LP (Pattern Energy), a leader in renewable energy and transmission infrastructure, has closed an $11 billion non-recourse financing and begun full construction of SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind, which together is the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.

SunZia Transmission is a 550-mile ±525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW of clean, reliable, and affordable electricity across Western states. SunZia Transmission will deliver clean power generated by Pattern Energy’s 3,515 MW SunZia Wind facility, the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere, which is being constructed across Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.

This groundbreaking financing includes an integrated construction loan and letter of credit facility, two separate term facilities, an operating phase letter of credit facility, an innovative tax equity term loan facility and a holding company loan facility.

“Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our transition to a carbon free future,” said Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy. “We are very grateful to all of our financial partners who are backing SunZia as part of this record-setting project financing. Construction is well underway on this historic project that will deliver clean power with a generation profile that complements abundant solar generation available across the Western United States. We’d specifically like to thank our shareholders for their support of Pattern’s efforts to deliver this critical project and meaningfully advance the world’s energy transition.”

For the approximately $8.8 billion construction and term facilities, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, CoBank, ACB; Desjardins Group, Export Development Canada, ING Capital LLC, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., New York Branch, KFW IPEX-Bank, MUFG Bank, Ltd., National Bank of Canada, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Societe Generale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as Initial Coordinating Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, The Bank of Nova Scotia and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, New York Branch acted as Coordinating Lead Arrangers.

BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, MUFG Bank, Ltd., Societe Generale, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are acting as co-syndication agents. MUFG Bank, Ltd. is acting as Administrative Agent and Deutsche Bank Trust and Agency Services is acting as collateral and deposit agent for the transaction.

The financings are structured as green loan facilities in alignment with the Green Loan Principles and BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Desjardins Group, ING Capital LLC, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A, New York Branch, National Bank of Canada, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Societe Generale, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as Co-Green Loan Structuring Agents.

A $2.25 billion tax equity term loan facility was provided by Banco Santander, S.A, New York Branch and Santander Bank N.A. (SBNA) as Joint Coordinating Lead Arrangers. Bank of America, GE Vernova’s Financial Services business, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking and Royal Bank of Canada acted as Joint Lead Arrangers. SBNA acted as administrative agent. The facility monetizes project tax credit attributes.

Nomura Securities International, Inc., and CPPIB Credit Investments III Inc., a subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) has participated in the final piece of the financing, a holding company facility to support initial equity capital for the project.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as borrower counsel for the Borrower while Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP served as senior lenders counsel to the senior facilities lenders and the holding company facility lenders and Milbank LLP represented the tax equity term loan lenders. Holland & Hart LLP and Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin, & Robb, P.A. served as local counsel for the Borrower, and Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. served as local counsel for the lenders.

“SunZia represents an important step forward in the global transition to renewable energy and we are pleased to support Pattern as it works to bring this project toward completion,” said Bill Rogers, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Energies, CPP Investments. “CPP Investments’ ability to provide a unique combination of flexible capital and deep expertise places us well to support projects like SunZia, which we expect will provide attractive, risk-adjusted returns to the CPP Fund over the long term.”

“We congratulate Hunter and the entire Pattern team on today’s milestone,” said Yakov Tsveig, Principal of Riverstone Holdings LLC. “The SunZia project represents the latest, largest, and most exciting part of the journey we started with management in the formation of Pattern in 2009 and when we made our first joint investment into New Mexico in 2017. We are grateful for the conviction shown by our numerous financing partners, helping unlock significant value and positioning Pattern for its next stage of growth.

“This financing is a testament to the commitment of our financing partners to the renewable energy space and to Pattern,” said Daniel Elkort, Executive Vice President at Pattern Energy. “The size and scale of both the SunZia project and this multifaceted financing show that the renewable energy space can secure attractive capital at levels previously only seen in traditional generation.”

Construction is underway on the SunZia Transmission and Wind project in New Mexico

Construction is underway on the SunZia Transmission and Wind project in New Mexico

SunZia Wind and Transmission will employ more than 2,000 workers on-site during construction, including heavy equipment operators, electricians, laborers, and others. The project will also utilize the expertise of several industry-leading suppliers and contractors. The EPC Contractor of the transmission line is Quanta Infrastructure Services Group and the HVDC supplier is Hitachi Energy. The EPC contractor for the wind project is Blattner Energy, a Quanta affiliated company. The wind turbines are being supplied by GE Vernova and Vestas.

SunZia Transmission and Pattern Energy have partnered with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) on the development of the transmission project in New Mexico.

About Pattern Energy

Pattern Energy is one of the world’s largest privately-owned developers and operators of wind, solar, transmission, and energy storage projects. Its operational portfolio includes 30 renewable energy facilities that use proven, best-in-class technology with an operating capacity of nearly 6,000 MW across North America. Pattern Energy is guided by a long-term commitment to serve customers, protect the environment, and strengthen communities. For more information, visit www.patternenergy.com .

Matt Dallas Pattern Energy 917-363-1333 [email protected]

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Energy investment in 2023

Clean energy spending, clean technology costs, consequences of the energy crisis, growing momentum for hydrogen and ccus, critical minerals and manufacturing, scaling up clean investment to meet climate aligned scenarios, sustainable finance, cite report.

IEA (2023), World Energy Investment 2023 , IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2023, Licence: CC BY 4.0

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The recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and the response to the global energy crisis have provided a major boost to global clean energy investment, global energy investment in clean energy and in fossil fuels, 2015-2023, increases across almost all categories push anticipated spending in 2023 up to a record usd 2.8 trillion, power investment, 2019-2023, fuel supply investment, 2019-2023, end use investment, 2019-2023, oil production investment and solar investment, 2013 vs 2023, renewables, led by solar, and evs are leading the expected increase in clean energy investment in 2023, annual clean energy investment, 2015-2023, less than half of the oil and gas industry’s unprecedented cash flow from the energy crisis is going back into traditional supply and only a small fraction to clean technologies, distribution of cash spending by the oil and gas industry, 2008-2022, the momentum behind clean energy investment stems from a powerful alignment of costs, climate and energy security goals, and industrial strategies.

The recovery from the slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the response to the global energy crisis have provided a significant boost to clean energy investment. Comparing our estimates for 2023 with the data for 2021, annual clean energy investment has risen much faster than investment in fossil fuels over this period (24% vs 15%). Our new analysis highlights how the period of intense volatility in fossil fuel markets caused by the Russian Federation’s (hereafter “Russia”) invasion of Ukraine has accelerated momentum behind the deployment of a range of clean energy technologies, even as it also prompted a short-term scramble for oil and gas supply.

We estimate that around USD 2.8 trillion will be invested in energy in 2023. More than USD 1.7 trillion is going to clean energy, including renewable power, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emission fuels, efficiency improvements and end-use renewables and electrification. The remainder, slightly over USD 1 trillion, is going to unabated fossil fuel supply and power, of which around 15% is to coal and the rest to oil and gas. For every USD 1 spent on fossil fuels, USD 1.7 is now spent on clean energy. Five years ago this ratio was 1:1.

Clean energy investments have been boosted by a variety of factors. These include improved economics at a time of high and volatile fossil fuel prices; enhanced policy support through instruments like the US Inflation Reduction Act and new initiatives in Europe, Japan, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) and elsewhere; a strong alignment of climate and energy security goals, especially in import-dependent economies; and a focus on industrial strategy as countries seek to strengthen their footholds in the emerging clean energy economy.

This momentum has been led by renewable power and EVs, with important contributions also from other areas such as batteries, heat pumps and nuclear power. In 2023 low-emissions power is expected to account for almost 90% of total investment in electricity generation. Solar is the star performer and more than USD 1 billion per day is expected to go into solar investments in 2023 (USD 380 billion for the year as a whole), edging this spending above that in upstream oil for the first time.

Consumers are investing in more electrified end uses. Demand for electric cars is booming, with sales expected to leap by more than one-third this year after a record-breaking 2022. As a result, investment in EVs (defined as the incremental spending on EVs vs the average price of vehicles sold in a given country) has more than doubled since 2021, reaching USD 130 billion in 2023. Global sales of heat pumps have seen double-digit growth since 2021.

The increase in fossil fuel investment expected in 2023 is unevenly spread around the world; less than half the cash flow available to the oil and gas industry is going back into new supply

2022 was an extraordinarily profitable year for many fossil fuel companies, as they saw revenues soar on higher fuel prices. Net income from fossil fuel sales more than doubled compared with the average in recent years, with global oil and gas producers receiving around USD 4 trillion.

Our overall expectation, based on analysis of the announced spending plans of all the large and medium-sized oil, gas and coal companies, is that investment in unabated fossil fuel supply is set to rise by more than 6% in 2023, reaching USD 950 billion.

The largest share of this total is going to upstream oil and gas, where investment is expected to rise by 7% in 2023 to more than USD 500 billion, bringing this indicator in aggregate back to the levels of 2019. Around half this increase is likely to be absorbed by cost inflation.

Many large oil and gas companies have announced higher spending plans on the back of record revenues. But uncertainties over longer-term demand, worries about costs, and pressure from many investors and owners to focus on returns rather than production growth mean only large Middle Eastern national oil companies are spending much more in 2023 than they did in 2022, and they are the only subset of the industry spending more than pre-pandemic levels.

The headline rise in spending on new oil and gas supply represents less than half of the cash flow that was available to the oil and gas industry. Between 2010 and 2019, three-quarters of cash outflows were typically invested into new supply. This is now less than half, with the majority going to dividends, share buybacks and debt repayment.

Investment by the oil and gas industry in low-emissions sources of energy is less than 5% of its upstream investment. This indicator differs widely by company, with double-digit shares common among the large European companies. Investment by the industry in clean fuels, such as bioenergy, hydrogen and CCUS, is picking up in response to more supportive policies but remains well short of where it needs to be in climate-driven scenarios.

Investment in coal supply is expected to rise by 10% in 2023, and is already well above pre-pandemic levels. Investment in new coal-fired power plants remains on a declining trend, but a warning sign came in 2022 with 40 GW of new coal plants being approved – the highest figure since 2016. Almost all of these were in China, reflecting the high political priority attached to energy security after severe electricity market strains in 2021 and 2022, even as China deploys a range of low-emission technologies at scale.  

The increase in clean energy spending in recent years is impressive but heavily concentrated in a handful of countries

Increase in annual clean energy investment in selected countries and regions, 2019-2023, clean energy costs edged higher in 2022, but pressures are easing in 2023 and mature clean technologies remain very cost-competitive in today’s fuel-price environment, average prices for selected technologies, 2014-2022, iea clean energy equipment price index, 2014-2022, notes of caution amid rising momentum behind clean energy transitions.

The positive momentum behind clean energy investment is not distributed evenly across countries or sectors, highlighting issues that policy makers will need to address to ensure a broad-based and secure transition. The macroeconomic environment presents additional obstacles, with higher short-term returns for fossil fuel assets and rising borrowing costs and debt burdens. Clean energy investments often require high upfront spending, making the cost of financing a crucial variable for investors, even if this is offset over time by lower operating costs.

More than 90% of the increase in clean energy investment since 2021 has taken place in advanced economies and China. There are bright spots elsewhere: for example, solar investment remains dynamic in India; deployment in Brazil is on a steady upward curve ; and investor activity is picking up in parts of the Middle East, notably in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. However, higher interest rates, unclear policy frameworks and market designs, financially-strained utilities and a high cost of capital are holding back investment in many other countries. Remarkably, the increases in clean energy investment in advanced economies and China since 2021 exceed total clean energy investment in the rest of the world.

After an unbroken run of cost declines, prices for some key clean energy technologies rose in 2021 and 2022 thanks largely to higher input prices for critical minerals, semiconductors and bulk materials like steel and cement. Solar PV modules were around 20% more expensive in early 2022 than one year earlier, although these price pressures have eased since. Wind turbine costs, especially for European manufacturers, remained high in early 2023, at 35% above the low levels of early 2020. Permitting has been a key concern for investors and financiers, especially for wind and grid infrastructure.

While solar deployment has been increasing year-on-year, the project pipeline for some other technologies has been less reliable. Investment in wind power has varied year-on-year in key markets in response to changing policy circumstances. Nuclear investment is rising but hydropower, a key low-emission source of power market flexibility, has been on a downward trend.

Weak grid infrastructure is a limiting factor for renewable investment in many developing economies, and here too current investment flows are highly concentrated. Advanced economies and China account for 80% of global spending and for almost all of the growth in recent years.

Our analysis presents a mixed picture on the prospects for energy efficiency and end use investments. They rose in 2022 thanks to the stimulus provided by new policies in Europe and North America, alongside exceptionally high energy prices. However, we expect spending to flatten in 2023 amid a slowdown in construction activity, higher borrowing costs and strains on household budgets.

Cuts in Russian gas deliveries to Europe have prompted higher investment in alternative sources of supply and in LNG infrastructure

Annual liquified natural gas import and export capacity additions, 2019-2027, change in global investment in natural gas supply, 2019-2023, strong policy signals and new support schemes have triggered a rapid expansion in the project pipelines for low-emissions hydrogen and ccus, capacity additions for co2 capture projects by announced start date, 2017-2026, capacity additions for hydrogen electrolysis projects by announced start date, 2017-2026, gas investments are caught between immediate shortfalls and longer-term uncertainty, although low-emission opportunities are growing.

Russia cut pipeline deliveries of natural gas to the European Union by around 80% in 2022, seeking leverage by exposing consumers to higher energy bills and supply shortages following its invasion of Ukraine. This led to strong price and policy incentives for investors to step up non-Russian gas supply, build up alternative delivery infrastructure, and scale up alternatives to natural gas. All of these effects are visible in our analysis.

The amount of new oil and gas resources approved for development in 2022 and 2023 has been below the average level seen over the past decade. However, 2023 is seeing a 25% increase in new approvals relative to 2022 and most of these are for natural gas, reflecting the push to substitute for the shortfall in Russian supply.

A wave of new regasification capacity is also underway as countries look to secure liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Europe’s annual regasification capacity is set to increase by 50 bcm from 2022-2025, expanding the continent’s overall LNG import capacity by one-fifth. Import projects are growing even more quickly in Asia, which is set to add over 100 bcm of LNG import capacity by 2025 (more than half in China).

The crisis has also prompted additional investment in liquefaction capacity, the most expensive part of the gas value chain. Around 60 bcm of capacity has been given the green light since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nearly double the rate of new approvals compared with the past decade. Along with projects already under construction, this leads to an unprecedented 170 bcm of export capacity that could come into operation between 2025 and 2027.

A key dilemma for investors undertaking large, capital‐intensive gas supply projects is how to reconcile strong near‐term demand growth with uncertain and possibly declining longer-term demand. This is a particular issue for Europe, given the continent’s strong climate goals. Many importers have been reluctant to commit to long-term contracts for gas supply. A preference for floating regasification terminals has been a way to avoid locking in future emissions.

Another avenue is to expand investment in low-emission fuels and in CCUS. New policies are swelling the project pipeline in these areas, driven by energy security and climate imperatives. Europe has a burgeoning number of electrolytic hydrogen projects, and reinforced US incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act have prompted a wave of investor interest in hydrogen and CCUS. After a number of false dawns, the number of large-scale projects and well-capitalised sponsors, along with a string of acquisitions by oil and gas majors (notably in transport biofuels and biogases), suggests that investment in low-emission fuels could grow strongly in the coming years.

Investment is flowing to clean energy manufacturing and critical minerals, but ensuring well- sequenced growth of new supply chains will be a major task

Capital expenditure by major mining companies in the non-ferrous metals, 2018-2022, lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity, 2022-2030, competition for clean energy manufacturing and for supplies of critical minerals and metals is a major issue for the resilience of transitions.

A secure transition to clean energy hinges on resilient and diversified clean energy technology supply chains. According to the IEA Energy Technology Perspectives , some USD 1.2 trillion of cumulative investment to 2030 is needed in clean energy manufacturing and in critical minerals supply to get on track for a 1.5°C scenario, in addition to the energy sector investments covered in this report.

Record sales of EVs, strong investment in battery storage for power (which are expected to approach USD 40 billion in 2023, almost double the 2022 level) and a push from policy makers to scale up domestic supply chains have sparked a wave of new lithium-ion battery manufacturing projects around the world. If all capacity announcements were to materialise, then 5.2 TWh of new capacity could be available by 2030.

For the moment, China is the main player at every stage of global battery manufacturing, with the exception of the mining of critical minerals. The announced manufacturing plans would somewhat erode this position. In 2022, over 75% of existing battery manufacturing capacity was located in China. However, despite accounting for two-thirds of yearly global capacity additions to 2030, China’s share of global capacity could fall by nearly 10 percentage points by the end of the decade.

A key question for battery manufacturers is whether supplies of critical minerals will keep up with demand. Thanks to high prices and growing policy support, investment in critical mineral mining rose by 30% in 2022. Exploration spending also grew, notably for lithium, copper and nickel, led by Canada and Australia and with activities growing in Brazil and resource-rich countries in Africa. But moving from exploration to new production can take more than 10 years, and there remain widespread concerns that critical mineral investment will become a constraining factor for clean technology manufacturing and deployment.

Critical minerals and batteries are among the areas where clean technology innovation remains essential. Public spending on research and development has been on a steady upward trend, as has corporate spending. But venture capital funding for clean energy, after reaching a high in 2022, faces headwinds in a more difficult macroeconomic environment.

For a decade, cheap capital has lowered barriers to investment in riskier bets and thereby concealed potential weaknesses in innovation systems. With the cost of money set to rise, the health of these systems and the level of public support will be a critical determinant of how quickly new technology ideas continue to flow.

Scaling up clean investment is the key task for the sustainable and secure transformation of the energy sector

Historical investment in energy benchmarked against needs in iea scenarios in 2030, expanding access to finance will be vital: sustainable finance has weathered the storm of the energy crisis, but remains heavily concentrated in advanced economies, sustainable debt issuances by issuer type, 2016-2022, clean energy spending in selected regions, 2022, sustainable debt issuances in selected regions, 2022, clean energy investment is starting to flow, but imbalances point to continued risks ahead.

In the IEA World Energy Outlook 202 1 , we wrote that “the world is not investing enough to meet its future energy needs […] IEA analysis has repeatedly highlighted that a surge in spending to boost deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure provides the way out of this impasse, but this needs to happen quickly or global energy markets will face a turbulent and volatile period ahead”.

This picture is starting to change: global energy investment is picking up, and the rise in clean energy investment since 2021 is leading the way, outpacing the increase in fossil fuel investment by almost three-to-one. Clean electrification is leading the charge. If it continues to grow at the rate seen since 2021, then aggregate spending in 2030 on low‑emission power, grids and storage, and end-use electrification would exceed the levels required to meet the world’s announced climate pledges (the APS). For some technologies, notably solar, it would match the investment required to get on track for a 1.5°C stabilisation in global average temperatures (the NZE Scenario).

However, progress has been uneven. Investment in expanding and modernising grids is lagging behind in many countries. A rising share of solar and wind needs to be accompanied by spending on technologies that provide greater flexibility to power systems. Supply chain and skills bottlenecks could constrain growth. And, above all, the geographical imbalances in investment need addressing, with clean energy investment in many emerging and developing economies growing only slowly and the number of people without access to modern energy services remaining stubbornly high.

Other pillars of clean energy transitions do not yet show the same positive dynamics as clean electrification. Investment in energy efficiency has been increasing, but is well off track to meet more ambitious climate scenarios. Investment in low-emission fuels is being spurred by new policy measures, but from a very low base.

Spending on fossil fuels is most closely aligned with the 2030 needs of a scenario reflecting today’s policy settings (STEPS), but producers need to watch closely how clean energy spending evolves, particularly the ways in which clean electrification affects demand for fuels in power generation, and for mobility and heat. The risks of locking in fossil fuel use are clear: fossil fuel investment in 2023 is now more than double the levels required to meet much lower demand in the NZE Scenario.

The crucial open question is how quickly clean energy investment scales up in emerging and developing economies, where supportive strategies and policies will need to be accompanied by improved access to finance. For the moment, sustainable finance instruments remain concentrated in advanced economies, accounting for nearly 80% of sustainable debt issuance in 2022. Issuances elsewhere (outside China) are growing from a low base, with India’s successful first green bond a landmark in this sector. Scaling up these instruments and mobilising much greater support from development finance institutions will be critical to the continued broadening and acceleration of clean energy transitions

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Project Tracking Review: Top 10 US Renewable Developers

Ambitions to electrify transportation, a rise in supportive federal incentives and continued participation of oil and gas companies in the electricity value chain have spurred a transformative shift in the energy industry. What might surprise some is the rapid pace of the change.

Five years ago, clean power was viewed as a tumultuous and fragmented business among industry professionals. It was riddled with risk and companies struggled to turn a profit. Today, there is a strong M&A market for renewable assets and it’s considered a safe investment, with pension funds and insurers competing to add large assets to their portfolios.

Like any emerging industry, investing in clean energy has its own set of risks. As mentioned in a previous blog , most developers finish only one of every five projects in their portfolio. However, it’s hard to ignore an industry that’s receiving estimated annual investments of around $75 billion per year and expected to grow.

Whether you’re a developer, operator, investor or company exploring new opportunities in the renewable space, you should get to know these 10 companies. Over the last decade, they’ve added a little more than 33.3 gigawatts (GW) to their combined renewables portfolios. Below is a list of the top 10 U.S. renewable developers by total megawatt (MW) capacity as of Sept. 15, 2021, available within the Enverus Foundations Power & Renewables platform. It’s important to note that our analysis focused on projects where the respected company was the sole developer. Existing Foundations clients with the Enverus P&R | Project Tracking Analytics add-on can dive deeper and analyze the data here.

Figure 1 | Top 10 U.S. Renewable Developers by Megawatt

Figure 2 | Annual Renewable Capacity Additions for the Group

Dian Volschenk

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COMMENTS

  1. Top 10 Projects in Energy

    Slated to be operational in 2033, the DKK210 billion Danish Energy Agency facility is the largest construction project in the country's history. And the North Sea hub could also provide a blueprint for other coastal nations looking for alternatives to traditional land-gobbling renewable energy infrastructure. 9th Most Influential Project of 2021

  2. The largest clean energy project in US history closes $11B ...

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  3. Biden-Harris Administration Announces $3.5 Billion for Largest Ever

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  4. Ten of the world's largest renewable energy projects

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  5. We've got a new champ! World's largest solar + storage facility fully

    The Edwards & Sanborn Solar + Energy Storage site is now operational in Kern County, California. The project generates 875 MWdc of solar energy and has 3,287 MWh of energy storage. Its total interconnection capacity is 1,300 MW, earning Edwards & Sanborn the often-temporary title of "world's largest" solar + storage site.

  6. Amazon is the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy

    January 16, 2024 With more than 500 solar and wind projects globally, Amazon's portfolio is now big enough to power 7.2 million U.S. homes each year. Amazon invested in more than 100 new solar and wind energy projects in 2023, becoming the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy for the fourth year in a row.

  7. Slide Show: The World's 10 Largest Renewable Energy Projects

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  8. One of the largest U.S. solar projects secures $779 million financing

    Swift Current Energy announced it has secured project financing for the 800 MWdc / 593 MWac Double Black Diamond solar project. Once operational, it will be the second largest solar project in the U.S. and the largest in the MISO regional transmission operation. Over $779 million in project financing was closed for this project, making it among ...

  9. Solar and battery storage to make up 81% of new U.S. electric

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  10. Invenergy Surpasses 30 Gigawatts of Clean Energy Projects as it

    Largest foreign investment and clean energy projectin El Salvador - Energía del Pacífico Energía del Pacífico (EDP) is a $1 billion liquified natural gas-to-power project at the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador. EDP will provide up to 30% of the country's energy demand with clean, reliable power by displacing heavy fuel oil generation ...

  11. The US' largest clean energy infrastructure project is ...

    SunZia Wind is the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere. The 3,500-megawatt (MW) wind farm sprawls across New Mexico's counties of Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel.

  12. US largest wind project to field 3.6MW turbines powering 3 million people

    Located in New Mexico, the 3.5 gigawatt SunZia Wind Power could be the largest in US history and the Western hemisphere for the foreseeable future. 3.6 MW wind turbines from GE will power the project.

  13. Press Release

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  14. 5 of the biggest renewable energy projects in 2023

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  15. "Largest clean energy project in U.S. history" secures $11B in

    The tandem is being billed by the company as the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history. SunZia Transmission is a 550-mile ± 525 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW across Western states.

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  17. List of planned renewable energy projects

    This is a list of the largest planned renewable energy projects rated by proposed generating capacity (larger than 5 GW ). References ^ "Green fuels mega project set to make Oman world leader in green hydrogen and green ammonia | OQ". oq.com. Retrieved 2021-10-14. ^ 이치동 (2021-02-05).

  18. US now has world's largest solar and battery energy storage project

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  21. U.S. Department of Energy Projects Strong Growth in U.S. Wind Power

    New Jersey and New York combine for the highest energy capacity in the U.S. offshore wind energy pipeline, with more than 20,000 MW, followed by Massachusetts (8,189 MW), and California (6,102 MW). State policies across 13 states aim to procure 112,286 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2050.

  22. Ten of the world's largest renewable energy projects

    Construction of Itaipu began all the way back in 1972 and was completed in 1982 at a cost of USD19.6 billion. Power production at the facility began in 1984. In 2018, the Itaipu facility supplied 15 % of Brazil's and 90 % of Paraguay's energy consumption. It consists of 20 generating units with a capacity of 700 MW each.

  23. Pattern Energy Closes $11 Billion Financing of Largest Clean Energy

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  24. Overview and key findings

    Comparing our estimates for 2023 with the data for 2021, annual clean energy investment has risen much faster than investment in fossil fuels over this period (24% vs 15%). Our new analysis highlights how the period of intense volatility in fossil fuel markets caused by the Russian Federation's (hereafter "Russia") invasion of Ukraine has ...

  25. Project Tracking Review: Top 10 US Renewable Developers

    by Dian Volschenk September 17, 2021 Ambitions to electrify transportation, a rise in supportive federal incentives and continued participation of oil and gas companies in the electricity value chain have spurred a transformative shift in the energy industry. What might surprise some is the rapid pace of the change.